Sociology key terms

A criminal offence motivated by hostility or prejudice towards an aspect of someone's identity, such as their religion.

Parenting involving very close monitoring and intervention in children’s lives, which may limit their independence.

The assumption that heterosexuality is the normal or expected sexual orientation.

The norms, values and expectations learnt through the organisation and everyday routines of schooling rather than through formally taught subjects.

A ranked structure in which people at higher levels have authority over those below them.

Higher-level education, including undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses at universities and colleges.

Marx’s approach to explaining historical change through the organisation of economic production and conflicts between groups with different relationships to it.

A difference in how behaviour is defined or judged at different points in time.

Education provided outside school, usually organised by parents and sometimes supported by tutors.

Education provided away from school, for example when illness prevents attendance or parents choose education at home.

Prejudice, hostility or discrimination towards people because they are, or are perceived to be, gay or lesbian.

One person living alone, or a group of people living at the same address and sharing facilities. Household members are not necessarily relatives.

The number of people living in a household, including adults and children rather than only the children born to a woman.

A clear, testable statement predicting what research will find.

Presenting something as better or more harmonious than it is, while overlooking its problems.

A simplified model that highlights the defining features of something so that real examples can be compared with it.

How someone sees themselves and how others see them, shaped by factors such as gender, ethnicity, religion and social class.

Obtaining or stealing another person’s personal information and using it for personal gain.

A media representation of a social group, often conveying a particular idea or stereotype about its members.

A person who has moved to another country to live or work there.

The process of entering another country to live or work there.

A physical, sensory or mental condition or difference that can affect how a person carries out activities.

Equal access to education for pupils regardless of their differences.

Resources received by a person or household over a period, such as wages, benefits or allowances.

Withholding some information about a study. This is not necessarily deception, but becomes deceptive when it intentionally misleads participants about an important aspect of the research.

A fee-paying school outside the state-funded school sector, also called a private school. British public schools are independent schools.

A serious criminal offence tried in the Crown Court before a judge and jury.

A practice, policy or rule applied to everyone that disadvantages people with a particular characteristic; in law, such a rule may be permitted if it is objectively justified.

Racist attitudes or discriminatory actions by a person towards others.

A conflict between employers and employees over matters such as pay, hours or working conditions.